Job Loss Threatens Health

Getting fired or laid off is one of life’s toughest blows, akin to losing a loved
one or getting divorced, and it takes its toll on human health. But now researchers
are finding that even the prospect of losing a job—whether or not it actually happens—can
be shattering to your health.

In fact, the health effects of job insecurity are at least as great as the health
effects of a serious or life-threatening illness.

At a time when job security has all but vanished for many workers, this is worrisome
news, says Sarah Burgard, an assistant professor of epidemiology who studies the health consequences of involuntary
job loss. And the problem isn’t confined to blue-collar jobs, she adds. It’s everywhere.

Burgard, who holds joint appointments in the Department of Sociology and the University
of Michigan Population Studies Center as well as the School of Public Health, is involved
in a trio of studies examining the impact that job loss and perceived job insecurity
have on health. Her work is among the first in the United States to focus not just
on the manufacturing sector but on workers from across the entire labor force.

In one study, Burgard found that people experienced a significant decline in physical
health after being fired or laid off, and even more profound mental health consequences.
The impact on depression, in particular, was “robust,” Burgard reports.

In a second study using data from a 16-year survey of more than a thousand men and
women nationwide, Burgard discovered that the mere fear of getting fired or laid off
is damaging to health. “When we controlled for actual job losses, people who were
chronically insecure had significantly more depressive symptoms and poorer self-rated
health,” said Burgard.

In fact, she and her colleagues found, chronic job insecurity—an employee’s ongoing
fear that his or her job may be at risk—is more strongly linked to poor health and
depression than either actual job loss or a brush with a life-threatening illness.
“We were really surprised,” Burgard says. “I guess we thought that part of the effect
would be controlled by job loss, but it wasn’t.” The researchers controlled for pre-existing
health conditions that might justifiably lead individuals to worry about job loss.
They also measured res-pondents’ level of neuroticism, to control for the tendency
of highly neurotic people to give low ratings of their mental and physical health
and of their job security.

Burgard is now at work on a third study assessing the health effects of nonstandard
work—including self-employment, contract labor, temp and part-time work—among women
who are just leaving the U.S. welfare system. Since much nonstandard work can be tenuous,
it can lead to significant job insecurity.

Photo by Peter Smith.

Send correspondence about this or any Findings article to the editor at sph.findings@umich.edu.
You will be contacted if your letter is considered for publication.